A Special Sort
by Audny
Summary: CHAPTER 3 UP! JULY 2. In Ginny's fifth year she's dealing with the aftermath of the battle at the Ministry. And as if that's not enough, her changing relationship with Harry keeps her year without a dull moment. HG with a bit of RH on the side. post OoT
1. Summer At The Burrow

A Special Sort

By Audny

A/N: So, I've decided to dive back into the world of fanfiction. I'm planning on making this story long. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything that goes along with it. That belongs to the magical J.K. Rowling.

Part 1: Summer at the Burrow

Ginny sat in the living room of the Burrow staring pensively out the window. In moments of solitude such as this one she would often dwell on the events at the Ministry at the end of last school year. Thinking about it still made her heart race and her chest tighten. Even back in the safety of the Burrow she was prone to occasional intense bouts of emotional turmoil.

Just yesterday she had been walking around the meadow nearby and had seen a large black stray dog. The sight of the dog alone had brought to mind Sirius, and Ginny had had to sit down right where she was on the beaten dirt path to attempt to prevent the tears welling up in her eyes from spilling out onto the dry ground.

Remembering that incident from her seat on the worn couch made Ginny's heart clench painfully. Nearly six weeks later, Ginny had finally stopped crying outright every time she thought about the horrible events of that night. The pain of Sirius' death had abated somewhat over the summer to a constant dull ache in her rib cage. This was bearable. It was not the sharp, hot pain that had come with every beat of her heart the first few days after. Or the feeling that someone was squeezing her heart in a vise that came whenever she thought of that night for the next several weeks. Talking with her family and the letters she had exchanged with Luna, Neville, Colin, Hermione and even Dumbledore over the summer had all helped her in coming to terms with the terrible incidents of that night. She had finally recovered enough that she would only rarely be moved to a fit of crying.

Ginny glanced up as her mother bustled into the room, straightening the picture frames on the mantel. Harry was coming to spend the last two weeks of summer at the Burrow and her mum had been cleaning all morning in order to make the house presentable for their guest.

At the thought of Harry, Ginny's chest tightened once more. She took a deep, steadying breath. Her mum glanced up at the sound of Ginny's shaky breath and gave her a concerned smile. Ginny did her best to muster up a brave smile for her mother before turning back to the window.

Her whole family had been rather wary of Ginny since the events at the Ministry. They seemed to think she was prone to explode into a crying fit from only the slightest provocation. While this had been true at the beginning of the summer, Ginny was now better in control of her emotions, even if they did still occasionally get away from her. The mention of Harry still had a huge lump rising in her throat though.

The thought of Harry always made Ginny want to scream or cry or do something. She was heartbroken when Sirius had died, as she had become rather close to the roughish man over the last summer spent at Grimould Place. She could only imagine how much Harry must be hurting over the loss of the only parental figure he had ever had.

Harry Potter was still a rather tricky subject for Ginny. Over the summer she had been trying to work out her own feelings toward him. She had thought she was over the ridiculous crush she had on him over her first three years of school. However, during the last year when she had actually gotten to know Harry, she had found that maybe the crush wasn't quite gone, but rather had evolved. Ginny no longer thought of Harry as some god-like figure meant to be worshiped. Over the past year, she had learned that he was just as human as anyone else. But as she was learning to know Harry as a person, she found that her feelings were not quite gone. He was so noble and self-effacing it was hard not to admire him.

Ginny had been thinking about this all summer and had finally worked out that she did still have some of those feelings from her first few years of Hogwarts that she thought she had gotten rid of. The fact that she wanted to cry out in anguish at the thought of how he felt about Sirius's death proved this theory. However, she had also decided that she only wanted to be his friend at this point. Only when she had accomplished that task would she reevaluate the more romantic side of her feelings for Harry.

Ginny thought to herself that perhaps she was growing up if she could put aside her feelings for a boy and decide to only be friends. The real test of this, however, was due to arrive later that afternoon.

OOOOOO

Later that day the remaining Weasleys were gathered in the kitchen waiting for Harry's arrival. That included Ginny, her mum and the twins. Ginny's dad and Ron had gone by floo powder to Harry's neighbor Mrs. Figg's house to fetch Harry. After the fiasco during the summer before Ginny's third year when her dad had tried to use floo powder to get directly into the Dursley's house and had ended up blowing a hole in the wall where the fireplace used to be, they all thought it would cause fewer problems to do it this way.

Her dad and Ron had left nearly twenty minutes ago and Ginny was practically quivering with anticipation . . . and nerves. She told herself repeatedly that it was no big deal that Harry was coming to visit. She wanted nothing more than to be friends with him after all. But she still found herself wondering if she could pull it off. After pining after Harry for nearly four years, Ginny had finally gotten over that and during the last year decided that Harry would be much more suitable as a friend than anything else. She had cut back drastically the number of fantasies she had about him professing his undying love to her in numerous heroic and romantic ways. She hadn't had one for months, as it were. She thought she was doing quite nicely in her attempts to set aside any romantic feelings for him. However over the summer, she had realized that her feelings were not as pure as she had thought them.

Ginny's reverie was broken as her brother came tumbling out of the fire place with Harry's trunk and landed sprawled on the floor.

"Oh, Ron dear," their mum said, sweeping over to help Ron to his feet and performing a quick cleaning charm on Ron's soot spotted clothing.

"I'm fine, Mum!" Ron was trying to get out from their mothers grasp as she attempted to wipe a smudge of soot from his nose. Ginny hid a smile behind her hand at Ron's struggle.

Her attention was soon diverted from her brother as a second figure, this one dark haired and not quite so tall, shot out of the fire place.

"Harry, dear! It's so good to see you again." Ginny's mum had abandoned Ron and helped Harry to his feet before embracing him warmly. The twins also rushed forward to shake hands with Harry as their father stepped a bit more gracefully out of the fire place.

Quite suddenly, a smiling Harry was in front of Ginny.

"Hey, Gin," he said. He gave her a quick embrace that left Ginny feeling a bit unstable and asked, "How's your summer been?"

Harry's smile was quite intoxicating and it took her a moment to realize he had asked her a question. So much for putting aside my feelings for Harry, Ginny thought ruefully as she shook herself mentally.

"Oh, it's been as well as can be expected, given the circumstances." She smiled slightly and congratulated herself on not going pink. A moment later though, she realized that she should not have said that, as Harry's face froze. Ginny silently cursed herself for her stupidity. Of course, Harry didn't want any kind of reminder about that night at the Ministry and here she was alluding to it with her careless comment. She was not doing well on her goal to be friends with Harry.

To Ginny's immense relief, Harry's face relaxed quickly and he gave her a slight smile before turning to see Ron gesturing to help him with the trunk. Harry and Ron soon disappeared from view. The twins followed shortly thereafter with their dad and Ginny was left in the kitchen with her mum, who had already begun pulling out pots to prepare dinner.

Her mum glanced back and smiled. "Would you like to help me with dinner, dear?"

"Sure, mum." Ginny took a knife out of the drawer and began chopping vegetables for a stew. As she was doing this, she resolved to not mention anything that could lead to thinking of the events at the end of last school year. She knew that would only serve to make Harry unhappy and that was the last thing she wanted. She only hoped that she had not put Harry in a brooding mood by her earlier comment.

As it turned out, Ginny had nothing to worry about. Harry seemed overjoyed to be away from his horrible aunt and uncle for the rest of the summer. He even came and took a seat next to Ginny at dinner.

They had eaten outside that night, as the weather was quite warm. It turned out to be a rather loud affair, as any Weasley meal tended to be. After dinner, their dad had taken a bite of a cream pastry sitting on the table for dessert. He abruptly took on the shape of a giant yellow canary.

"Uh, oh," muttered George. "Reckon we forgot to tell dad no to eat those."

"Lovely meal, Mum," Fred said quickly, rising from the table with George. "It's a bit late though. I think we'll just turn in for the night."

"Oh, no you don't, boys!" Molly Weasley was chasing her twin sons around the yard waving her wand and screaming. "YOU GET BACK HERE, FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! I'LL MAKE YOU SORRY YOU EVER–" The rest of it was cut off as Molly chased the twins around the other side of the house.

Ginny, Harry and Ron glanced once at each other and promptly erupted into a fit of laughing. The Arthur-Canary began calmly pecking at crumbs on the tablecloth while waiting for the effects of the twins' Canary Cream to wear off.

By the time their laughing had subsided to small chuckles every now and then, Arthur had returned to his normal state with a faint pop and hurried off after his wife, who was now hurling hexes as the twins, with a murmured, "I'd best see if I can calm her down a bit."

Ginny, Ron and Harry spend the rest of the evening in idle chatter around the table until there was little light left in the sky. Ginny felt a warm, satisfied glow building in her chest as she sat their with her brother and the boy she hoped she could call friend.

The pauses between sentences became longer as the shadows lengthened and abruptly Ron let out a loud yawn.

"Well, I'm off to bed." He stifled another yawn. "You coming, Harry?"

"You go ahead. I'll be along in a bit."

Ron nodded over another yawn and left the pair in the dusk.

After he left, Harry and Ginny sat in silence for bit. The silence dragged on for a few more minutes and Ginny began to wonder if Harry even remembered she was there. She was about to get up and leave him to his thoughts when he spoke.

"I wanted to ask you something, Ginny?"

Ginny's heart began beating rapidly. Maybe he wanted to talk about Sirius. Ginny knew Ron wasn't the type to talk to about that kind of stuff.

"What is it, Harry?" she asked with as much calm as she could muster.

"Well, it's nothing important really," he said quickly. "I was just wondering if you were still planning to play on the house team this year."

Ginny didn't let herself feel disappointment at not being the one Harry would confide in. Of course he didn't want to talk about his godfather with Ginny. They barely knew each other. Instead, she looked thoughtfully out at the lawn as she considered the question. She hadn't really thought about it. She had assumed that Harry would reclaim his position as seeker and she would go back to being an anonymous Gryffindor.

Harry must have taken her silence for a 'no' because he hurried to say, "You should really consider it. I'll hopefully be able to play again, since that awful Umbrige woman is gone, but you could train as a reserve seeker if you want, but then you wouldn't have much playing time. You could also try out to be a chaser. You've got the perfect build for it and what with Angelina and Alicia leaving we need to find strong chasers."

Ginny was a bit shocked to hear him say that she had the perfect build for a chaser, that he would even know what sort of build she had. But she supposed as a Quidditch player he kept an eye out for that type of thing. She couldn't take it as flattery. That wasn't what Harry had meant.

Noticing his inquiring look, she smiled briefly at him. "Well, I hadn't really considered it," she said honestly. "Now that you bring it up though, I might try out."

He smiled suddenly. "Good. It be a waste not to have someone with your talent on the team." He stood up and stretched. Ginny couldn't help but admire how defined his chest looked when his shirt was stretched over it. "Well, I think I'll turn in. See you in the morning."

"Night," Ginny answered and watched him make his way back to the house. Ginny stayed where she was for a bit thinking about that last exchange. It was the probably the longest conversation they had ever had alone together. Although it wasn't by any standards long, it was still nice to think that they had potential for more private conversations. And Harry had said she had talent at Quidditch! The thought of that almost made her giddy, but she reigned in her emotions. He had only said it as a fellow Quidditch player and friend. She would not think of him as anything but a friend. That was all she wanted. It was.

OOOOOO

The next few days passed with leisurely monotony. Ginny had suggested practicing Quidditch the next day and Harry, Ron and the twins jumped at the idea. From then on they had made it a habit to play Quidditch every afternoon and then they sat around talking in the evenings. Although the subjects of conversation had stayed light, Ginny felt like she was becoming a closer friend to Harry. Ron and Harry did still disappear together from time to time, but they included Ginny more and more often in their activities as the week went on.

After nearly a week, Ron got an owl from Hermione saying that her parents would let her come to the Burrow for the last week of summer. He had invited her earlier but she was away on holiday with her parents.

Ginny was slightly worried that, when Hermione arrived and the threesome was back together, they would begin excluding her more often. When Hermione arrived the next day, she found that fear unnecessary. Ginny had always gotten on well with Hermione and found that she was included even more often with Hermione present than before.

This acceptance was demonstrated one day when the threesome had decided to go to Diagon Alley for a bit of shopping. Ginny was sitting in the kitchen flipping through the _Daily Prophet_ trying not to pay attention to the bustle going on around her. Her brother and his two friends had been planning this since the night before. They had never expressly invited Ginny though and she assumed they wanted to go without her.

"Harry!" Ron called. "Hurry up! We haven't got all bloody day!"

Ginny glanced up at the sound of Hermione tutting at Ron's rude call. She quickly looked back down at her paper though, as Harry walked in. She would not appear disappointed not to be invited.

As they gathered around the fireplace Ron looked up. "You ready, Gin?"

Ginny had to use every ounce of control she possessed not to jump up and run over to the fireplace. Instead, she folded the paper as slowly as she could and walked calmly over to them.

"Sure am," she said.

After that, Ginny felt like she really was one of the group and she stopped worrying so much about whether or not she was welcome.

With her summer going so well, Ginny was rather sdisappointed to hear her mother remind them to begin packing their belongings at dinner on the evening before their last day of summer. (Although Ginny was to be a prefect, about which she was rather excited).

"Remember to have everything packed early tomorrow. We're having guests over for dinner," Molly had said over the kitchen table that evening.

"Who's coming over, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"We thought it would be nice to put together a bit of an end of summer celebration for you kids." She smiled kindly at him. "We've invited a few friends. Remus, Tonks, and a few others from the Order."

"Oh," said Harry. "It will be nice to see Professor Lupin again. And the others."

"Yes, of course, dear." Molly said, smiling encouragingly.

Ginny glanced worriedly at Harry. The Order of the Phoenix had not been mentioned since Harry's arrival. Everyone seemed to realize that he didn't want to talk about it or the loss it, and he, had suffered. It appeared that Harry hadn't made this connection though. He was talking excitedly with Ron and Hermione about seeing his old friends again. Ginny heard Ron mutter that he hoped Snape hadn't been invited.

The next day could only be described as organized mayhem. Molly was running about dropping off clean laundry and dusting the house at the same time. The upper floors of the house were hectic, what with Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry all gathering their things and packing them into trunks. Molly had insisted they have everything packed that morning because they would have no time between the dinner that night and leaving early the next morning to finish packing.

There was a loud crash and a scream from the direction of Ron's room and Ginny and Hermione went to investigate. It took Ginny a minute to realize what had happened and when she did she burst out laughing.

"Oh Ron, what happened?" Hermione managed to sound concerned between giggles.

The room was strewn with clothing and Harry and Ron were laying in a tangle on the floor. Pigwigdeon was fluttering about excitedly while Harry's Hedwig looked on disapprovingly. It appeared that Pig had, in his excitement over packing, knocked his cage off its stand and onto Harry's trunk which in turn was knocked off it's seat on his bed and emptied onto the floor.

Ginny and Hermione hurried forward to help the boys up, still giggling a bit. Once they had righted themselves and shoved most of Harry's belongings back into his trunk they decided to stop for a break and headed down to the kitchen.

"Oh their you are, dears." Molly looked up from the huge pot she was stirring. "I've made sandwiches for lunch." She gestured vaguely at the plates of sandwiches on the table.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said. Molly smiled and bustled out of the kitchen.

The four teenagers sat down at the table and began to eat.

"Who do you s'pose our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be?" Ron asked around a bite of food.

"Dunno," Harry said, "but whoever it is, it's got to be better than the last one."

"Perhaps they'll get someone from the Order for the position," Hermione suggested. "It _would_ make sense."

"Maybe Lupin will be able to come back," Ginny said wistfully. "He's the best we've had so far."

"Yeah," said Harry. "But someone would surely have told us if he was taking the position."

Ginny nodded at that and the four lapsed into thoughtful silence.

OOOOOO

It was much later that evening when Ginny was lying in the dark in her room that she allowed herself to fully consider the events of the night.

It had started out wonderfully. Lupin and Tonks had arrived first. It was so good to see them again. Tonks had appeared with bright fuchsia hair that she preceded to change every half hour or so. Mad-Eye Moody had also come, as well as Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Dinner was a joyous event with much talk and all around a good mood. The twins didn't even do anything that made Molly begin yelling at them. Well, nothing she found out about.

It was all absolutely lovely until late that evening after everyone had left. Ginny was sitting outside on the porch with the Harry, Ron and Hermione when someone brought up the Order. Ginny wasn't sure how the subject first came about, but as soon as it was, she could feel her good spirits draining.

"What do you s'pose they're up to now?" Ron had asked.

Hermione had answered in a reasonable voice. "I'd imagine their doing their best to prevent Voldemort from gaining supporters."

"He's already got more than he should have," Harry had said then, his voice stony. After a pause he said in barely more than a whisper, "There should have been some way to prevent him dying."

They had all looked at him quickly to see him stare brooding out into the night. It was the first time he had mentioned Sirius around Ginny since his death and her heart nearly burst to hear it. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself and she saw Ron and Hermione looking nervously at him.

Abruptly he stood.

"I think I'll turn in then." With that he went inside and hurried up to his room. Ron and Hermione shared a nervous look before Hermione suggested they all do that, given that they would be rising early the next morning. Ginny had watched as they went inside, but hadn't followed.

Ginny knew how much it helped to talk things through with friends and family, and she had wanted to talk to Harry about that night at the Ministry since he first came to the Burrow, but she had held back, knowing he wouldn't want to talk about it. Now he had brought it up himself and it nearly broke Ginny's heart to hear the pain in his voice.

After everyone else had gone to bed, she had sat on the porch as hot tears slid down her cheeks. It wasn't the kind of choking sob she had had right after the events at the ministry, but rather the silent crying of someone who didn't have the energy left for big sobs.

And so she had sat outside, staring out at the night for nearly an hour before wiping her eyes and walking slowly up to the room she was sharing with Hermione. Ginny lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling for a long time before finally falling asleep.

Little did she know that another set of eyes, these ones a deep emerald green, were also staring up at the ceiling for much of the night.

OOOOOO

TBC


	2. The Return To Hogwarts

A Special Sort

By Audny

Disclaimer: (To the tune of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones)

_I don't own no, Harry Potter._

_Though I wish and I wish and I wish and I wish_

_But I don't own no, Harry Potter._

**Author's Note:** Here it is, chapter two! Hooray! Sorry it's a bit short, but I wanted to get something up. I hope you enjoy it and if you're feeling particularly charitable, review! Because reviews make the world go round. They also motivate me to write and make chapters come faster. Anywho, to the story!

Part 2: The Return To Hogwarts

Ginny pressed her head against the cool glass of the window on the Hogwarts Express, watching the students on Platform 9 and 3/4 say their last goodbyes. The morning was as chaotic as she had expected it to be, what with her mum trying to get four kids packed, downstairs and out the door.

Ginny smiled and waved at her mum and dad one last time before the scarlet train started moving. It was slow at first but quickly gained speed and they were trundling through the English countryside toward the ancient castle that housed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I'll see you in a bit, Neville." Ginny said to the other occupant of the compartment. "I've got to go to the prefects meeting. I expect it will be dreadfully boring."

"Oh, well, I'll see you afterwards then?"

"Yeah." Ginny left and walked to the front of the train. The other fifth year Gryffindor prefect was Don Livingston. He was a friend of Colin's but Ginny didn't know him very well. She had hoped that Colin would be the other prefect in her year, but he had assured her that he didn't want that kind of responsibility.

The head girl was Hufflepuff, Lauren Freely and head boy was a Ravenclaw, Jonathan Chambers. Ginny sat down next to Hermione and her brother as the other prefects entered.

"I'm so glad you're a prefect this year, Ginny." Hermione said by way of greeting. "You'll have such a wonderful time of it."

"Yeah, you get to tell off Slytherins and take away house points." Ron leaned around Hermione to add.

Hermione frowned.

"Could I have your attention everyone." Jonathan had stood up to address the group. He went on to outline the duties of a prefect. As Ginny had expected it was rather dull. She new most of the prefect duties already. Patrol the halls and the Hogwarts Express, basically just keep everyone orderly. After an hour or so of discussing the many duties of a prefect, they were released.

Ginny went back to the compartment she had left Neville in and Ron and Hermione went off in search of Harry.

"Hullo, Colin." Ginny greeted her friend as she entered the compartment shared by her three best friends, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom and Colin Creevy. "How was your summer?"

"Oh, it was brilliant, Ginny! We went on holiday to Rome and got to see the wizarding community there! I can't wait to show you all my photos!" Colin Creevy was an avid photographer and he tended to get overly excited about everything. Ginny was quite a bit mellower, nevertheless, she counted Colin as one of her closest friends.

"Did you know that the Italian Minister of Magic used to be a member of the late seventies rock band Accio My Guitar?" Luna asked in a vague kind of voice, looking over the top of the latest _Quibbler_. "Dad did an exclusive with the former drummer last May." Luna was another of Ginny's dearest friends. Ever since she got to know the girl at the end of her third year, Ginny had developed an appreciation of her friends somewhat quirky behavior.

"Really?" Colin asked seriously. "I hadn't heard that." That was another reason Ginny liked Colin so much. He accepted people as they were without comment, oddities and all.

"What did the Minister do in the band, Luna?" Neville asked, interested. Ever since taking Neville to the Yule Ball in her third year, he and Ginny had been good friends. Although she had none of the feelings for Neville that she did for Harry, Ginny knew she would always have a special place in her heart for the forgetful, yet caring boy.

"Oh, he was the lead singer." Luna answered, looking earnestly at Neville.

Ginny sat back and listened as her friends continued talking about the Italian Minister and his former career. For all the fun she had over the summer with Ron, Harry and Hermione, Ginny was glad to be back with her own friends. Ginny sighed in complete satisfaction, a wisp of a smile on her face. It was good to be back at school.

About half way into the train ride, Ron, Hermione and Harry joined the group seated in the compartment. Ron was spluttering about Malfoy.

"That slimy git," he growled. "If he thinks just because he's a prefect he can do whatever he wants, I'll show him. This year I'm not going to take it. If he steps out of line, I'll just take away house points. Or better yet, I'll send him to detention!"

"Oh, Ron." Hermione sounded exasperated. "If you abuse your powers as a prefect, you'll just be sinking to his level."

"Well, I don't care. He deserves everything he'll get."

Hermione just signed and rolled her eyes.

"What did he do?" Neville asked a bit nervously.

"Oh just his usual antics," Hermione said. "He threatened to give Ron detention."

"That's not all!" Ron began indignantly. "He also called Hermione," he lowered his voice dramatically, "a _mudblood_!"

"Bloody prat!" Harry sounded outraged.

"Oh,_ will _you two stop it!" Hermione demanded. "He had no right to say that, but that's no reason to get so upset."

"No reason!" Ron practically roared.

"Keep your voice down, Ron." Hermione said fervently. "Or Malferret may just decide to come and see what all the noise is about. And I don't fancy another run in with him today."

Ron looked sullen, but he let it drop.

Ginny was grinning a bit as she listened to this exchange. Ron and Hermione always bickered and she didn't think it was only because they grated on each others nerves. Quite the contrary, she suspected they both rather liked it. At this thought, Ginny slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggle that was about to surface. Ron noticed.

"What's so funny?" He snapped, still a bit sullen.

"Nothing," Ginny answered quickly, trying hard to wipe the grin from her face. Ron looked a bit suspicious, but didn't press it.

The rest of the train ride passed in companionable conversation. To all their delight, Malfoy did not decide to pay them a visit. It seemed he'd had enough earlier.

"Hogsmeade!" Colin exclaimed excitedly, pointing into the dark outside the window. This announcement was followed by a rush of activity as everyone hurried to change into their Hogwart's uniforms. The train slowed to a stop a few minutes later and the level of noise in the Hogwarts Express raised a few decibels.

"Oh, do hurry up, Ron" Hermione said as Ron struggled to get his tie on straight. "We have to supervise the students as they get off the train. And come on, Ginny."

Ron gave one last futile jerk to his tie and followed Hermione out of the compartment muttering something about all the students already knowing where to go, since they had done this before. Ginny followed her still muttering brother.

"We'll save you a spot in the carriage," Harry said as Ginny was leaving. He was trying to pick up both Hedwig's and Pig's cages. They banged together, causing Pigwidgeon to flutter about and Hedwig to hoot disapprovingly.

"Here, let me help you with that, Harry," Colin said eagerly, bounding forward and grabbing Pig's cage from Harry.

"Thanks," Harry muttered.

Colin beamed.

"Okay, thanks." Ginny smiled as she hurried after her brother.

Ginny, Hermione and Ron joined the others as when they began boarding an empty carriage. Hermione took Crookshanks' basket from Neville and climbed in after him. Ginny noticed Hermione looking wistfully up at the castle.

"Oh, I can't wait until classes start. Arithmancy this year is going to be _so_ interesting."

Ginny glanced at Harry, who was sitting across from her and had to stifle a giggle. Hermione had been going on about how amazing arithmancy was all summer. Ron let out a groan.

"Don't go and spoil the feast by talking about classes, Hermione." Ron complained. "We've still got a few more hours before we have to start thinking about them."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but surprisingly, Luna beat her to it. "I rather think arithmancy is interesting, too."

Hermione looked a bit shocked and just stared at Luna for a few seconds before saying stoutly, "Thank you, Luna." Luna, however, had already stuck her nose back behind the current issue ofthe_ Quibbler_.

Ginny grinned. She loved Luna for all her eccentricities, but she always felt a little proud when Luna proved her worth to people who were a bit more suspicious of her sanity.

The carriages were pulled to a halt in front of the castle by their invisible mounts. Ginny dismounted and followed the others into the castle. The Great Hall was quickly filling with students and the noise level was quite high as friends who hadn't met up on the Hogwarts Express called to one another.

Luna wandered off to sit at the Ravenclaw table. Harry, Ron and Hermione were already making their way across the room to sit with the other Gryffindors. Ginny, Neville and Colin followed their path over to the Gryffindor house table. The threesome already had their heads together discussing something quietly and Ginny resigned herself to being excluded and started to move towards another part of the table. However, as they neared, Harry looked up and waved them over, smiling. Ginny felt an odd flutter in her stomach, which she did her best to ignore, and changed course to sit down beside Harry.

"Saved you guys a spot." He said simply, before turning back to Ron and Hermione.

". . . I'm _telling_ you, that's what he said," Hermione was saying seriously as they sat down. "I don't think he was trying to — Oh, hi, Ginny. Neville, Colin." Hermione broke off when she saw them, smiling a bit to cover her abrupt change of topic. Neville smiled politely back and Colin grinned, but Ginny was a bit suspicious.

It looked as if the Dream Team wasn't quite as ready to accept new members as Ginny had hoped. It was what she had expected though, so Ginny wasn't too disappointed. Harry did want her to sit by her after all. That could mean something. No! Must not think like this. That train of thought will only lead to disaster, Ginny told herself sternly.

"Who's that?" Ron asked suddenly, staring intently at the staff table. Ginny followed his gaze to see a striking woman with long black hair sitting between Dumbledore and Snape.

"Isn't it obvious," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "It's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Oh. Well, she certainly _looks _better than our old one, eh, Harry?" Ron nudged him with his elbow. Ginny and Hermione both rolled their eyes, muttering "boys" under their breath.

"Let's hope she teaches better too." Harry responded wryly.

"She looks young to be a teacher," Neville commented, frowning at the woman.

"Yeah," Ginny said, looking again at the woman. She looked only to be in her mid-twenties. Certainly the youngest teacher at Hogwarts.

Their attention was moved as McGonagall brought out the Sorting Hat and a small stool.

The sorting went by rather quickly and uneventfully. The Sorting Hat had no special messages about interhouse relations this year. The new Gryffindors looked like a good bunch, although Ginny was surprised at how small they were. Surely she hadn't been_ that _short as a first year.

A hush came over the Great Hall as Professor Dumbledore stood up. He beamed out at the sea of students in front of him. "Before you indulge in the wonderful feast that has been so graciously prepared for us– "

"By house elves bound in slavery!" Hermione exclaimed in an indignant whisper.

"–I would like to introduce to you Professor Lasch. She will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year right here at Hogwarts. I hope you all will join with me in welcoming our newest addition to the staff."

The students clapped along with Dumbledore as Professor Lasch smiled briefly at them.

"Now then," Dumbledore continued as the applause and chatter died down again. "I only have one thing more to say. And that is: Dig in!"

The five tables in the Great Hall groaned in unison as the golden platters were suddenly filled with mountains of food.

"Finally," Ron muttered, dishing mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"I've been waiting for this all summer." Colin said happily, taking a huge bite of Shepard's pie and smiling contentedly.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, or more than their fill, as was often the case, Dumbledore stood again. He waved his hand and the dishes emptied themselves. "Ahh, an amazing feast–"

"Prepared by slave labor," Hermione muttered.

"–we must be sure to thank the house elves for it." Dumbledore looked in the direction of the Gryffindor table, his blue eyes twinkling. Hermione looked a bit sheepish. "Now, I have a few start of term announcements to make. First, to our new students, welcome, and to our returning students, welcome back. Second, I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is in fact forbidden. It's not just a cleverly alliterative name. Third, in regards to the numerous educational decrees that were enacted last school year, the Ministry of Magic has decided that it has matters of more importance that it should focus on besides the schools and has gracefully revoked all educational decrees."

There was a cheer at this news.

Dumbledore held up his hands for silence again. He looked very serious, the twinkle normally found in his eyes gone. "However, in light of the grave events at the end of last school year, there will be some new rules in place." Ginny swallowed and looked over at Harry, who was staring rigidly at the Headmaster. "First, no student is to go out on the Hogwarts grounds after dark without teacher supervision. Second, no manner of sneaking about after curfew will be tolerated." Dumbledore looked pointedly in the direction of Harry. "And finally, Mr Filch would like me to remind you that the list of contraband items is hanging in his office and he urges you all to take a good look at that. I hope to make this an enjoyable and safe year. Now, to bed with you!" The twinkle was back in his eyes as he bid them goodnight.

Ginny helped the other prefects lead the first years up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Abyssinian shrivelfig," She told the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Oh, welcome back, dear." The Fat Lady said, swinging open.

They climbed through the portrait hole and Ginny pointed out the girl's and boy's dormitories. She then climbed the stairs to the girls dormitory, changed quickly into her pajamas and fell into the soft four-poster bed. She was asleep almost instantly.

OOOOOO

TBC


	3. New Teachers and New Chasers

A Special Sort

By Audny

**Author's Note:** Yet another chapter for you to enjoy. And hopefully review as well. This one's nice and long so savor it. It is summer though and if this chapter is any indication, I'll hopefully have the next one to you before too long. I have realized something though. The next Harry Potter book is coming out THIS MONTH. This is looking to be a rather longish story so there is not a chance that I'll finish it before the next book comes out. This could potentially cause a few problems, but I'll work those out as they come up. Thank you so very much to those of you who reviewed and anyone who read and enjoyed my story so far. Without further ado, here's chapter three. And don't forget to review because reviews are like candy and I like candy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. He belongs to the amazing J. K. Rowling.

Part 3: New Teachers and New Chasers

"Mind if I join you?" It was Harry. Ginny was sitting in the Hogwarts library working on a particularly nasty potions essay a few days after the start of the term. She'd only been back for three days and already she was in the library!

"Sure." She replied, shifting her pile of books over to make room. "You'd think the first week back would be easy, but I've already got a ton of essays to write. The first thing out of every teachers mouth this year was something to do with O.W.L.s. Honestly, they're not until June!" Ginny was more that a bit fed up with the amount of work her teachers had given the fifth years.

Harry slid into a chair across from the somewhat frazzled Ginny. He offered her a lopsided grin. "Really, Ginny. You should start preparing early. O.W.L.s are only nine months away!" Harry said in a surprisingly good imitation of Hermione's voice.

Ginny couldn't help but let out a small giggle. Hermione was her friend, but the girl needed to learn how to relax.

"Anyway," Harry continued in his normal voice, "what are you working on?"

"Potions. We're supposed to research all the ingredients used in sleeping drafts and what effects each has."

Harry grimaced. "Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks." She said dryly.

"No problem." Harry grinned. Ginny had noticed that he seemed less despondent now that they were back at Hogwarts. Of course, if she lived with an awful aunt and uncle who couldn't stand the sight of her, she supposed being back at the first place that actually felt like home would put her in a good mood too.

"What brings you to the library?" Ginny asked lightly. "It doesn't look like you brought anything to work on." Indeed he hadn't. He didn't even have his book bag with him.

"Actually, I came to find you." He grinned and Ginny's heart leapt into her throat. Then, realizing what he had just said, he reddened. "I . . . er . . . just wanted to tell you about . . . erm . . . Quidditch tryouts." He stuttered quickly.

"Oh. Right." Ginny said awkwardly. "What about them?"

"Well, they're going to be next Thursday."

"OK."

"Right, well . . ."

"Right . . ."

Harry started to get up, then stopped.

"Oh, and . . . er . . . I'm captain now."

"Really?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah." Harry muttered, rubbing the back of his slightly pink neck. "All our chasers graduated and I've been on the team longest, so . . . er . . . it just seemed to make sense."

"Yeah. Well . . . congratulations. That's really great."

"Right. Thanks." Harry stood again, looking even more embarrassed. "Well . . . erm . . . I should go."

"Ok." Ginny said quickly, then regretted saying it so quickly. "Ok." She said again. "Well. I'll . . . er . . . see you later."

"Yeah . . . Good luck with the essay."

"Thanks."

"Bye."

"Bye."

As soon as Harry had disappeared from view, Ginny laid her head onto her arms on top of her pile of books. That was possibly the most awkward conversation she'd ever had. Ginny groaned. She'd just made an utter fool of herself in front of Harry Potter. They were talking in one word sentences! That's no way to impress the boy you like! What was she thinking! She groaned again. And lifted her head up.

Madam Pince was frowning at her. Apparently her last groan had been too loud. Deciding that her potions essay could wait another day, she quickly packed her things away and hurried away from Madam Pince's disapproving gaze.

OOOOOO

Ginny didn't see Harry again until lunch the next day. She was sitting with Neville munching on an apple.

"Have you had Defense Against the Dark Arts yet?" Neville asked.

"No, I've got it this afternoon. You had it yet?"

"Yeah. Just this morning."

"How is Professor Lasch? Better than that awful Umbridge, I hope."

"Well, yes." Neville was quick to assure her. "She does seem to know her stuff. We didn't get to practice any spells though. Although she did say we'd be doing that next class."

"She's an auror, come to teach for the year." Harry had just joined them with Ron and Hermione. Harry grinned sheepishly at Ginny. She couldn't help but smile back and all the awkwardness of the other night was forgotten.

"It was a great class." Ron said, his eyes a bit misty.

"Oh, how would you know? You didn't take a single note during class, you were so busy staring at her." Hermione replied tartly. "She's not even that good looking. Her nose is too long and her eyes are a bit off center."

"Oh, come off it, Hermione." Ron retorted. "Just because I didn't take eight pages of notes doesn't mean I wasn't listening."

"Well, maybe if you started taking notes _in class_, you wouldn't need to ask to borrow mine when we have an exam."

Ron frowned at his sandwich but wisely let it drop.

After lunch, Ginny and Colin walked to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom together.

"So," Colin began cheerfully. "Have you heard about Quidditch tryouts yet?"

"Yeah. Harry told me about them last night," she said carefully.

"Did he now?" Colin raised an eyebrow at Ginny and she blushed a bit under his scrutiny. Then berated herself for blushing about her awkward conversation of the previous night. Colin saw her blush and quirked a smile.

"I thought you didn't fancy Harry anymore," he said quietly. Colin had always been able to read Ginny like a book.

"I don't!" Ginny began indignantly. "Well . . . not exactly, anyway."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, Colin, I don't know!" Ginny was feeling a bit desperate about the whole Harry situation and really did want to talk to someone about it. She had ruled out Luna and Neville. They wouldn't really understand. Well, maybe Luna. She was surprisingly perceptive about some things. Colin, however, seemed to understand her better then anyone else. "I thought I just wanted to be friends with him, but after hanging around with him during the summer and really getting to know him, I just don't know what I want anymore."

"Hmm," Colin muttered thoughtfully. "Well, as long as he wants to be your friend, go with that. Who knows? It may turn into something more." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Ginny hit him with her bag.

"Ouch." He began rubbing his arm furiously. "Anyway, about Quidditch."

"Yes, what about it?" Ginny replied just a bit tartly.

"You gonna try out?" he asked eagerly.

Ginny didn't have to think about it before answering. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

"Well, good." Colin grinned. "I reckon I might try out as well. We're in desperate need of chasers, and I'm rather good on a broom."

Ginny grinned widely. "Oh, Colin that's great! It would be brilliant if we both made it! And you'd make a wicked chaser."

"Thanks!" Colin grinned. "We'd make an amazing team. I hear Dean Thomas and Natalie McDonald might both try out too."

"I do hope Dean get's it," Ginny murmured. They had just reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Colin and Ginny took seats together near the front of the classroom and waited for it to slowly fill up with students. Before long all the Gryffindor fifth years had chosen seats and were staring expectantly at the door, waiting for their new teacher to arrive. There was a bustle at the door and it opened to reveal Professor Lasch, her arms full of books and papers. She hurried into the room, kicking the door closed behind her and dropped her pile of books onto the desk at the front of the classroom. Straightening, she pushed some hair out of her eyes and looked up as if surprised to see ten students watching her. She recovered from her shock in a moment and cleared her throat.

"Right. You're the fifth year Gryffindors." She seemed a bit disoriented. Now that Ginny got a good look at their new professor, she did see what Hermione had meant about her nose being a bit long and her eyes not quite straight.

Rifling quickly through the stack of papers on her desk, Professor Lasch pulled out a sheet and looked again at the class before her. "I suppose we ought to start out with role. Beverly Clarke," she began, looking up to see Beverly, a mousy haired witch, raise her hand. "Colin Creevey."

"Here, Professor!" Colin piped in, waving his hand high in the air. Ginny smiled at his exuberance.

Professor Lasch continued until, "Ginny Weasley." She paused for a moment to peer at Ginny who had raised her hand somewhat tentatively. "Hmm . . . I went to school with your brother Bill," she murmured. She set down the roll sheet and brushed off her hands on the front of her robes somewhat absentmindedly.

"Well, we'd best begin then. What were you studying at the end of last year?" she queried.

Beverly raised her hand and said, "We were _reading_ about hexes, but we only learned theory. We weren't allowed to practice." One could easily tell from her tone that she wasn't happy about that.

Professor Lasch was frowning. "Hexes," she murmured half to herself, staring out the window pensively. "And you never practiced the counter-hexes?" she asked suddenly, focused again on her students.

"No," Ken, a rather tall and gangly boy, answered glumly.

"Right. We'll have to fix that." The students in the room perked up at this. Lasch, however, was staring out the window again, seemingly concentrating very intensely. Ginny almost felt as if she could see the wheels turning in her teacher's head. "Not here though," she was muttering. "Right," she said as if making up her mind. "We'll be going outside." The students really perked up at this. The weather was sunny and warm this early in September. Lasch was once again focused totally on her students, very alert.

"You can leave your book bags here, but don't forget your wands." She was already opening the door. "If you'll just follow me."

Everyone was scrambling to do just that. Professor Lasch walked so quickly down the hallway to the Entrance Hall that the fifth years had to jog to keep up.

Whispered conversations had sprung up between the jogging students.

"What do you think she's going to teach us?" Beverly whispered to her best friend, Haylee Fletcher.

"Why do we need to go outside?" Don, Ginny's fellow prefect, asked in a whisper.

Professor Lasch, meanwhile, had stopped briefly at a closet near the door and pulled out a rather ratty old broom. This caused a stir to run through the students following her. Lasch didn't seem to notice; she was frowning at the broom.

She stared at the old Cleansweep in her hands, her head cocked slightly. "Hmm, yes. I suppose this will work," she muttered after a moment and swung the broom over her shoulder, marching down the steps and onto the grounds.

When they were a significant distance away from the castle, Lasch stopped and turned to face her students.

"Hurling hexes," she said, dropping the broom. "Are any of you good flyers?"

Andrew Kirke, the Gryffindor beater, raised his hand, a bit nervously.

"Excellent." Lasch smiled in a reassuring way. "Don't worry, I'm sure your classmates will be able remove the hurling hex before you fall off."

Andrew did not seem reassure in the least bit.

Professor Lasch took out her wand and pointed it at the broom. "_Conicio_," she said, waving her wand. The broom lifted a few inches off the ground and shuttered once before falling back down to lie deceptively still in the grass.

"Right. Who knows what a Hurling Hex does?" Lasch asked, smiling expectantly at the class.

Colin's hand shot up in the air. Professor Lasch smiled and nodded for him to answer.

"A hurling hex throws someone off their broom when they are flying."

"Correct. Five points to Gryffindor. It can be very difficult to manage a broom with a hurling hex on it."

Andrew's face had taken on a somewhat greenish cast.

"The counter hex is _inficticio_. The stress is on the third syllable and you must wave your wand in a very tight circle." She demonstrated the movement with her own wand. "Now, why don't we practice that a few times before Andrew mounts."

Andrew looked positively sick.

"_Inficticio_," the class dutifully chanted in unison, waving their wands. Green sparks shot out of the end of Ginny's wand.

"Very good, Ginny. You've done it correctly. We'll have you start."

Ginny nodded a bit nervously. She offered Andrew a encouraging smile as he walked shakily over to the broom.

"I once heard about a boy getting thrown 100 feet from a broom with a hurling hex on it," Colin muttered into Ginny's ear. "I hope she knows what she's doing."

Ginny swallowed. She hoped _she_ knew what she was doing. Ginny certainly didn't want to hurt Gryffindor's beater.

"Right, kick off from the ground," Lasch was telling Andrew. "Don't go too high up, just hover a few feet from the ground."

Andrew gulped and mounted. He kicked lightly off and rose to hover above the class. Suddenly, the broom started shaking and bucking, trying to throw off its rider. It rose higher, weaving back and forth. Andrew was swung about, barely managing to hold on.

"Go on then, Ginny," Professor Lasch said quite calmly, her eyes never leaving Andrew.

Ginny took a deep breath and raised her wand. "_Infiticio_!" she yelled, pointing at the wavering broom. Again the green sparks shot out of her wand. At first nothing seemed to happen. The entire class held their breaths, eyes glued to their classmate. Then, quite suddenly, the broom gave a shudder and stopped moving. Andrew paused for a moment, surprised. Then he pulled himself back onto the broom (he had been holding on by only one hand) and flew to the ground.

The class let up a cheer.

"Oh, brilliant!" Lasch exclaimed, beaming.

Andrew landed and dismounted on shaky legs.

"Right. Who's next?"

In the end, Colin volunteered (somewhat reluctantly) to fly, while Don cast the counter-hex. It worked out rather well and the class continued on in this fashion. Only Ken was thrown from the broom when Beverly cast the spell incorrectly, but Professor Lasch used a spell to soften his fall and he came away from it with only a few bruises.

OOOOOO

The next few days past quickly and uneventfully (save for when Neville spilled a Shrinking potion on himself and spent the rest of the afternoon one foot high. Snape wouldn't give him the antidote—said it served Neville right).

Ginny often found herself in the library with Luna, Neville and Colin in the evenings. Her teachers seemed to think that the only way to pass O.W.L.s was to begin studying now. This studying was done best in long essay form it appeared. On the evening before Quidditch tryouts, Ginny found herself seated with her friends in the library working on a particularly difficult transfiguration essay instead of out practicing.

Ginny and Colin had taken to practicing Quidditch when they had a break from homework. Ginny was a bit nervous about tryouts. Even though Harry had all but promised her a spot on the team, she still wasn't sure that her chaser skills were up to snuff. She really wished she could be out there tonight, but she didn't fancy going to McGonagall and telling her that she hadn't finished the essay. Perhaps she'd be able to get a bit of practice in after she finished the essay.

Ginny sighed. There was no way she would be finished with this essay in less than three hours and by that time it would be after curfew. With the Headmaster's new rules it would be very foolish, not to mention very likely impossible to attempt to sneak out after dark to practice.

"What are you working on?" Luna asked, looking up from behind the book she was reading. _Remedial Remedies: An Beginner's Guide To Magical Plants And Their Healing Properties._

"Transfiguration," Ginny muttered. "Honestly, O.W.L.s can't be _that_ bad."

"They _are_ very important," Luna insisted. "Our entire education from this point on depends on how we do on them."

Ginny smiled to herself. Luna and Hermione were more alike than either one of them realized—or cared to admit.

"Are they very difficult, Neville?" Luna asked, turning her intense stare to him.

"Oh, yes," Neville said morosely. "I didn't get as many as Gran would have liked."

"Nonsense! You got plenty." Luna smiled reassuringly at Neville and he blushed and looked back down at his books, a small, pleased smile playing across his face.

"I wish we could be out practicing." Colin sighed, staring wistfully out the window. The weather was still nice and dusk looked beautiful tonight.

"Me too," Ginny put in glumly. "But McGonagall had to make this awful essay due the same day as tryouts!"

"Yeah. Bloody rotten, that is." Colin glared at his as yet empty roll of parchment. "I really wanted to practice the Porskoff Ploy one more time."

"And my reverse pass could really use some work," Ginny added. "Just a few more times and I'm sure I'd get it."

"You are both very good at Quidditch and will no doubt make it on the team," Luna said so matter-of-factly that neither Ginny nor Colin could say anything in return and so they all lapsed into silence.

"Do any of you know if there'll be a D.A. this year?" Neville asked some time later, looking up from the Defense Against the Dark Arts homework he was doing.

"I dunno." Everyone had automatically looked to Ginny for an answer. It seems they all thought she was closer to Harry than the rest of them. Well, she supposed that was true. Harry did spend the summer at the Burrow.

"I hope Harry decides to do it again this year!" Colin was practically bouncing in his seat. "I learned _soo_ much from him."

"Yes, it was rather helpful," Luna said vaguely, only her eyes showing from behind the current Quibbler she had just begun reading.

"Yeah," Ginny said slowly. "But we're actually learning stuff in Defense Against the Dark Arts class now. It doesn't seem as important."

"I was much better at learning the spells in the D.A. than I am in class," Neville said quietly. "I hope it continues this year. Even if we just use it to practice what we learn in class."

"Yeah, I hope so too," Ginny said. Neville really did do much better in the more informal setting and he needed as much confidence as he could get. She resolved to talk to Harry about it the next chance she got.

The next day went by very quickly for Ginny. She handed in her Transfiguration essay to McGonagall, proud that she had stayed in to finish it. Defense Against the Dark Arts was another eventful class. They practiced deflecting hexes that Professor Lasch threw randomly about the room. Ginny was getting quite good at it and was very pleased with herself.

By dinner Ginny was feeling very nervous. She sat with Colin picking at her food. She had suddenly lost her appetite. Colin wasn't eating much either.

"Oh, eat something already!" Hermione cried, she had been watching them sit staring at their plates for the past ten minutes.

"Not hungry," Colin murmured.

"Honestly, you two have been practicing constantly all week! You have nothing to worry about."

"Where are Harry and Ron?" Ginny suddenly noticed that Hermione was without her other two thirds.

"They're out setting up for tryouts."

"Is it that late already?" Colin exclaimed shrilly. Pushing himself up. "We'd better hurry Gin. We don't want to be late."

"Honestly! It's only Quidditch!" Ginny heard Hermione exclaim as she followed Colin out of the Great Hall. Only Quidditch indeed!

Sure enough, they found Harry and Ginny's brother on the pitch along with Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke.

"Hello, Ginny. Hi, Colin." Harry had just spotted them coming toward the pitch.

"Hello." Ginny answered back weakly. Honestly, she didn't know why she was this nervous. She had always played chaser with her brothers when they played at home. And as Hermione had pointed out, she had been practicing at every free moment all week. She supposed it might be because she wanted to impress Harry, silly as that was.

"We've just got to wait for a couple more people, then we can get started," Harry was saying. Ginny nodded mutely and stood looking up at the pitch. Luckily the weather had held and their would be good conditions to fly in.

A few minutes later, Dean Thomas and Natalie McDonald came out of the castle and made their way down to the pitch.

"Right, I think that's everyone," Harry said. "Let's get started then. Erm . . . Ginny, you can go first then."

"OK." Ginny picked up her broom (A Cleansweep 11, her mum had gotten her one for becoming a prefect.) and mounted.

"Alright, just take a few shots and try to get them past Ron."

Ron gave Ginny a encouraging smile and shot up toward the goal posts. Ginny followed suit, catching the Quaffle Harry had just released easily. The higher she soared the less nervous she became. She was just having a go with her brother, that's all.

Down below her, Ginny heard Harry blow a whistle, signaling her to start. She clutched the Quaffle to her side and flew toward Ron. At just the last moment she swerved and threw the ball at the lowest goal. Ron dove and just barely deflected the Quaffle before it reached it's destination. Ginny quickly retrieved the ball and flew at Ron again. This time she came down from above and the ball went soaring right over Ron's outstretched fingers to fly threw the tallest goal post. Ginny continued this for a few more minutes. She made one more goal on Ron and he deflected two. She hoped she was doing alright.

Ginny heard the whistle again and looked down to see Harry waving them to the ground. She swallowed nervously, suddenly remembering what she was doing and flew to join the others. Dismounting, she saw Colin smile and give her a thumbs up. She looked at Harry and saw him grinning broadly at her. Her stomach did a little flip flop.

_It's only because he thinks I'm good at Quidditch,_ Ginny told herself. _Nothing else!_

"Good job, Ginny." Harry told her, coming to stand in front of her.

Ginny felt a blush coming and was glad she was already flushed from flying so hard.

"Right, Dean," he called. "You next."

Dean nodded and kicked off the ground.

"You did really well." Harry was still standing in front of her. He was awfully close. Ginny could clearly see the scar hidden behind his messy black hair. Ginny glanced over to see Colin and Natalie engaged in conversation.

"Thanks," she said.

"I have to wait until everyone has had a chance to tryout before I can announce the new chasers," he was saying, "but you've got one of them."

Ginny's mouth dropped open in shock. She was going to be a chaser! "Oh, thank you, Harry!" she cried. She threw her arms around Harry without thinking, then very quickly released him. She was blushing furiously now, but grinning broadly at the same time.

"Er . . . it's no problem," Harry answered, looking slightly surprised and a little embarrassed by Ginny's sudden embrace. "You're really very good, like I said."

Ginny didn't let the slight awkwardness of the moment phase her and she continued grinning as she looked up to see Dean fly toward Ron, Quaffle in hand.

The rest of the tryouts went by rather quickly. Ginny only really payed attention to Colin. The hours of practice they had the previous week payed off. Colin flew seamlessly. Ginny knew Colin was really a better chaser than she was. She desperately hoped Harry saw how good he was and let him on the team. Ginny was a bit nervous about that. Colin really looked up to Harry and Ginny knew that Harry was rather uncomfortable about his sometimes overenthusiastic behavior.

After everyone had tried out Harry went off with Ron, Jack and Andrew to discuss it. The four would be chasers stood around nervously—well, except Ginny who knew she had it already. After a few minutes, Harry and the others came back to announce the new chasers. Ginny, of course, made it. As did, to her delight, Colin and Dean. Ginny felt a bit bad for Natalie, but she was very happy that both Colin and Dean would be her fellow chasers. She knew she'd be able to work well with both of them.

The newly assembled team was talking rather loudly and excitedly as they walked back to the castle together. Amidst all the noise, Ginny realized something. She was once again stuck with a group of boys. It seemed that she had just escaped most of her brothers when she again found herself surrounded by others. Well, she'd survived six brothers. A Quidditch team full of boys would be a piece of cake.

OOOOOO

TBC


End file.
